Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 25 July (BelTA) – The absence of the Belarusian canoe and kayak team at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is an absolute loss for sports fans around the world, famous Russian TV presenter and sports commentator Dmitry Guberniyev said in an interview with the STV channel, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus has a very strong, award-winning team. Its absence is an absolute loss for me as a commentator and as a sports fan. I think that very many sports fans around the world will share this opinion because the Belarusian team has proved its worth,” said Dmitry Guberniyev.

As was reported, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne (CAS) overturned Belarus’ appeal against the decision of the International Canoe Federation (ICF) to impose a one-year suspension on Belarus’ Senior Men’s Canoe and Kayak National Team. It was specified, among other things, that that the ICF has already reallocated quotas of Belarusian athletes, and bringing them back would be detrimental to the other national canoe and kayak federations.